Wow ring magazine's list from 99 sucks too. Tyson no. 14, Lewis no 34. I dont see how you cant have Tyson and Lewis in top 10, or 11 and 12a if Youre a dick about it. Yeah Burt was alive during those oldtimers fighters so they were his heroes in A way.
Maybe Bert wasn't ranking them on who would win in a fight or their records but on the quality of their styles and fights? Guys like Dempsey, Ali, and Louis are way more fun to watch as a spectator. You could probably pick half a dozen of Ali's fights that were better than anything Larry Holmes ever produced. If the quality of the opposition is so important to Holmes being ranked low, then why is Marciano ranked so high? Marciano's big wins against Moore, Charles, Walcott, and Louis all came when those champions were ancient. Didn't they average about 40 years old between them? But if you watch the fights they are fascinating. On the other hand, if we just have a list of what heavyweights are the best to watch and not the best at fighting, wouldn't Tyson be above Holmes on such a list as well? Still, he should get a little respect just for his fights with Shavers and Norton.
haha yeah just checked, '' larry makes for a charming adjudicator on the programme, but is not overly convinced with his ranking!''
Gene Tunney, a ring genius,,,,,,,,, Worthy of a Top 10, for having the brains to get out of boxing at the right time.
Sugar knew boxing, but he was romantically enamored of the old days, as evidenced by the way he dressed, etc.. He thought the Dempsey area was amazing, though he was too young to have experienced it. He was like the steam punk of boxing. I disagree with his list strongly.
Only using the names he used for his top 10 i'd put my list as 1. Muhammad Ali 2. Joe Louis 3. Rocky Marciano 4. Larry Holmes 5. George Foreman 6. Jack Johnson 7. Joe Frazier 8. Jack Dempsey 9. Ezzard Charles 10. Gene Tunney (Could IMO switch 3-6 and 8-10 any which way)
My top 10 list is 1.Muhammad Ali 2.Joe Louis 3.Larry Holmes 4.George Foreman 5.Jack Johnson 6.Rocky Marciano 7.Joe Frazier 8.Lennox Lewis 9.Gene Tunney 10.Jack Dempsey I'll give Sugar his due though, it is quite a tough list to compile as there are a lot of the fighters who are quite difficult to place right.
This is simple proof that Sugar was one of those people whom always wanted attention, even if was for something stupid. For those of us who were there, Ring magazine readers were outraged that he "replaced" Fleischer. I never liked Sugar, and intuited he was a big phoney from the first time he showed up. A soiling of a once amazing, loving magazine imo.
I think that would be even stupider than Sugar's list. No offense. Holmes-Norton is one of the most heart-filled, classic battles in heavyweight history, my friend. Maybe watch that one again.